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TL
Overview and Rules The TL format is a new playing style that's radically different from the normal Magic: The Gathering formats (Vintage, Extended, Standard, Limited, etc.). The general concept is that the TL format is a better portrayal of what fighting a mages' duel really would be like. The primary differences are: *Normal hand size is limited to 5. At the end of their drawing phase, players must return all cards in excess of their hand size limit back to their library. *Library sizes can range anywhere from 1 to infinity. In the standard variant, the maximum number of any one card is 1, forcing people to play with a variety of cards. *Players have a lot of freedom choosing which cards to play with. Players may draw up to 3 cards (they don't have to draw.) At the beginning of their upkeep, players may return any number of cards from their hand to their library. Unlike other formats, players are always able to see all the cards in their own library and may choose exactly which cards to put in their hands. Since the library doesn't have to be a single stack, players generally play them face-down in "clusters" (such as low-cost/high-cost or land//creature/sorcery) to make it easier to get to what they want. *Players may play up to 1 lands, 2 non-sorcery spells, and any number of sorcery spells and abilities on their turn. *Instants are now Sorceries. Spells have a variety of speeds, with 2 the default for lands, 3 the default for creatures/artifacts/enchantments, 5 the default for "normal" sorceries, 6 the default for "normal" instants, and larger numbers for spells/abilities with Split Second, Flash, etc. Spells and abilities of speed 6 or greater may be played at any time; this includes most permanents' abilities. *There are no more Planeswalker-type cards. The legendary-rule prevents copies of legends from coming into play but doesn't destroy the original. *Attackers generally have more say about what they attack, especially through the new Reach mechanic, which allows attackers to attack whatever they want. *Equipment and enchantments can now be (potentially) attached to players. This means that players will be able to deal damage on their turn by "tapping" themselves, but if they do so they forfeit their second main phase. Players can take and deal combat damage and block for their creatures in this way. Implications There are many implications of these new rules: *All cards will have to be re-costed and rebalanced. Only cards made for the TL format can be played in TL games. *Since card draw is less advantageous, many cards with cantrips, card-draw, card-discard, card-peek and card-reorder will be modified or tossed out. *Since players will be able to get whatever cards they want out of their library each turn, players will much more frequently have readily available exactly what they need. Each turn will see a bit more activity on average. It also means that players will be able to use mass removal more often and whenever they want, making having counterspells ready more important. *While players will want to focus on a single color (or combo) to develop synergies, it is now essential to use other colors. Creatures are cheaper because they're easier to destroy now that red sorceries are easier to access, which means if you don't play red sorceries you'll fall behind. Likewise, since people can now play spells more efficiently, blue sorceries countering them become a lot more important. As a result there will be a lot more "clashing" (players playing plenty of counters to counters onto a stack) each turn. *Players must save more of their mana for countering any possible devastating spell another player would play. But how much to save is a tricky topic, since saving too much mana means playing fewer cards while players can always have multiple counter-spells or reinforcing-spells at their disposal. Magi and Card Draw Because players are able to play a land every single turn (because they'll draw a land from their libraries every single turn), on most turns players will have more mana at their disposal. Because players can only cast 2 non-sorcery spells on their turn, by turn 7 the limiting factor is the number of spells they can draw and play per turn. Enter the magi - creatures that play additional spells using your excess mana. A few of these late-game can greatly increase the number of spells you can field each turn. Say, by turn 8 you have 3 magi out. You can cast 2 spells, and each of these can cast one, for a total of 5 per turn, not counting your own sorceries! "Magi" isn't a type of creature, but it's often very evident that these spellcaster buddies are actually out there casting spells for you. Oftentimes, being weaker magi than you are, they'll run out of spell charges (their own "cards") in a few turns, however; the number of charges of a spell a mage starts off with is shown in the parenthesis next to the spell's name; a (2/3) means that they have 2 charges of that spell coming into play but can potentially get another one if they get a spell counter (which gives them more charges of a spell). Their spells are also considerably weaker than what you can field, and often involve only 1 or 2 mana. Late game, players will end up playing all the cards they've drawn, meaning they'll need to draw additional cards. This is done with various card-draw techniques, though these generally don't cost as much as card draw in other MTG formats, because players always have the option of playing spells that cost more mana. Companions Planeswalkers have been replaced with Companions (a new supertype), beings with high mana cost that bring plenty of benefits: * Companions often feature more powerful spells than magi do, and are especially good with using excess mana through spells that cost X+. *Companions are also able to cast spells using your library. During your upkeep turn, you can draw 3 cards for each Companion on your side. As long a Companion isn't tapped, that being can cast spells in "it's hand" (up to 2 non-sorcery spells, infinite sorcery spells) just like you can. *Companions can play additional land every turn. This is a lot like bringing another player in the game as an ally, except you get to work with a Companion's mana pool and they get to work with yours! *Companions are treated as other players rather than as creatures. This makes them much harder to destroy. *Companions have life points that are retained through turns just like regular players do. They generally have a good deal of life points, which you can sacrifice instead of using your own life points. *You don't lose the game until you and all Companions on your side have been defeated. If you have been defeated, you can no longer draw and play abilities, but your Companions can still do so. Companions are very fun game-enders. That said, there are certain ways of vastly prolonging and expanding the game through the use of Companions.